A gutted former care home on the East Hampshire border is set to rise from the ashes as one the biggest schemes in a village’s history has been approved.

The future of the Heathmount site in Rake is looking brighter as plans to replace three redundant care homes with 27 homes have been approved by the South Downs National Park Authority.

The late Victorian building – reduced to a shell following a devastating arson attack in August – will be converted into flats after being repaired or rebuilt.

The adjacent Copper Beeches and Silver Birch buildings off London Road will make way for 19 homes, ranging in size from three to five bedrooms, with a final dwelling at the rear of the site.

Park planners were happy with the housing mix and design with the proposals also including gardens, parkland and “woodland enhancements”.

PP Copper Beeches Heathmount OSP Archictecture.jpg
The layout of the scheme approved by the SDNPA last week. (OSP Architecture)

The decision wasn’t unanimous with opponent Andrew Burns calling for fewer houses to reflect the surroundings, while planning committee member Gary Marsh called the housing mix “nowhere near acceptable”.

He said: “We’ve got ten units of 4 or 5 bedrooms – that’s 37 per cent. The housing mix is all wrong for this site.

“They are not providing what we want in the national park. We need smaller units.

“Are we satisfying someone else or the national park because we’re not satisfying both.”

However, Mr Marsh was the only member not to vote for approval during the meeting in Midhurst with Paul Bevan hailing a “better fit” and Andrew Shaxson calling the development a “good use of the land”.

“It’s not unreasonable given the way Hill Brow looks and there are a lot of large houses there,” added member, Antonia Cox.

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David Ramsay, representing Val Williams and the applicants AYG Holdings Beeches Ltd, also called the benefits of the scheme “substantial”.